Observations and Realizations
by GladAngel24
Summary: Ten drabbles on Yuri observing Conrad and Wolfram's relationship. Yuri couldn’t understand the tension between Conrad and Wolfram lately.


•1•

He wasn't meant to catch the intense gaze, but Yuri caught it nonetheless. He quickly looked away from Conrad, his face burning. Tentatively, he looked over his shoulder once again. Whatever it was that had captured Conrad's attention so fixedly, the moment had passed, because the older man had resumed polishing his sword. Yuri moved his eyes across the courtyard in what he assumed to be the same path Conrad's eyes had just been.

He saw Wolfram.

Yuri glanced back over his shoulder to Conrad, unsure.

•2•

"Humph."

Yuri glanced to Wolfram's annoyed face. "What?" He whispered. "You're distracting me." Yuri watched as Gwendal called out the next soldier's name to receive a certificate on completing training. It had been Yuri's idea to hold a celebration and he was proud of it, hence his vague irritation with Wolfram's behavior.

"Conrart. He's staring at me."

"You wouldn't know he was looking at you if you weren't staring back." Yuri paused and flicked his gaze back to Wolfram tentatively. He saw the blonde flustered and sputtering a protest. From somewhere behind them, Yuri was sure Gunter was shushing them.

•3•

It had never occurred to Yuri that Wolfram would deliberately use his beauty to his advantage. But then Yuri had never thought Wolfram would be so desperate as to not talk about Conrad.

Yuri, once again, questioned the blonde. "Had it been really so awful? Conrad being half-human?"

Wolfram purposely tilted his head back and threaded his fingers through his sun-lit hair. Yuri was unsure of what to gaze at first: the long column of Wolfram's pale throat or the way his full pink lips formed around his weary sigh.

"Look…I really don't want to talk about it, Yuri."

"…Ok."

•4•

In a rare moment, Yuri had walked in on Conrad placing his hand on Wolfram's shoulder in the privacy of the library. Wolfram shook the offending hand off.

What usually would have stopped Conrad from _trying_ with Wolfram only pushed him further, secure in the quiet of the room. He reached out and grabbed both of Wolfram's shoulders before he could react.

"Wolfram…"

"What do you want from me?" Wolfram cried. Yuri had never seen the blonde quite so undone in Conrad's presence before.

"Nothing, Wolfram-" He was interrupted with a condescending snort. "Just what you'll give me." He finished.

•5•

"I'll never forget the day I forgot to wear socks to school…" Wolfram gave Yuri a look. "What? It was embarrassing!"

Wolfram rolled his eyes. "I'll never forget the look Gwendal made when I guessed right about his knitted doll." Wolfram imitated the look, his eyes wide and mouth open.

Yuri laughed. "I'll never forget my father's reaction when he found out I was engaged to you." Wolfram swatted at Yuri.

"…I'll never forget…the day I told Conrart I hated him…"

Yuri didn't know what to say and as he looked to the somber blonde, he realized neither did Wolfram.

•6•

Yuri couldn't understand the tension between Conrad and Wolfram lately. Every time one was with the other, an uncomfortable silence would ensue. It got to the point where Yuri believed Conrad was actually beginning to avoid the younger man. Yuri decided enough was enough.

He cornered the man.

"So, Conrad…" Attempting a sly voice. "What's up?"

Conrad smiled. "The usual, Heika." Yuri let the formality slip this time.

"Uh huh." Yuri dropped the act. "What's up with you and Wolfram?" And Yuri was shocked to see the older man flush, his guarded expression showing more than surprise at the question.

•7•

Conrad and Wolfram were talking. Talking _together_. Better yet, Wolfram wasn't being threatening and Conrad wasn't being placating. Yuri was doing a very good rendition of a fish.

Yuri stopped in the hallway, unsure of what to do. Should he continue down the hall and potentially break up their conversation? Or should he slowly back away?

He decided on a third option. Hidden behind a convenient pottered plant, he listened in on them.

"Why was the raspberry sad?" Conrad asked.

"Why?"

"Because his mother was in a jam." Silence.

"…Conrart, Raspberries don't have mothers, they're fruit."

Yuri smacked his head.

•8•

"Your mother was telling me you never took a bath unless Conrad took one with you when you were young." Yuri said to Wolfram as they walked down the hall.

"Mother," Wolfram growled, an eyebrow twitching.

"Well, is it true?" Yuri prompted.

Grudgingly Wolfram answered. "Yes… but you wouldn't understand, the intimacy of it, bathing with someone you lo-"

Yuri paused. Wolfram froze. Then in recognition, "That's not what I meant!" just as Yuri exclaimed, "You're brothers!"

Both boys sported equally red faces.

"Half-brothers." Wolfram finally said into the silence.

"Does that make a difference?" Yuri, incredulous.

"Maybe," Wolfram muttered.

•9•

As Yuri took out items from Conrad's wooden trunk he assorted them into various piles: paper, books, old clothes. Yuri was amazed by all the junk.

Finally, Yuri pulled out the last moldy…thing…and put it with the other Unidentifiables. That pile should not be that big, Yuri thought.

"Thank you, Yuri."

"Yeah, no problem." As Yuri got up, he noticed a rag, hidden underneath Conrad's pillow. Yuri pointed to the tattered fabric. "One more rag."

Conrad shook his head. "That one stays there always." And without waiting for Yuri's question, "It was Wolfram's baby blanket."

Oh, Yuri thought. How sweet.

•10•

As the two brothers awkwardly danced around the hall (at their mothers many forceful requests), Yuri couldn't help but notice that even if their stiff bodies were as far apart as possible, their hands told a different story.

One pale hand grasped firmly within a larger one. It said, _I won't let you go_…or perhaps _You're mine_, Yuri thought.

Conrad's hand was holding Wolfram's side, sometimes absent-mindedly slipping to his hip. When this happened, Wolfram's hand would hold tighter to Conrad.

And when the dance ended, Conrad lightly grabbed Wolfram's hands, and softly kissed his cheek. Wolfram's hands squeezed back.

End.

AN: Let me know what you guys think! Reviews and concrit always welcome :)


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